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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = ''Annona squamosa''
| image = sugarapple.jpg
| image_width = 250px
| image_caption = Sugar-apple fruit
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Magnoliales]]
| familia = [[Annonaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Annona]]''
| species = '''''A. squamosa'''''
| binomial = ''Annona squamosa''
| binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
}}

''In some regions of the world, the '''sugar-apple''' is also known as [[custard-apple]], a different plant in the same [[genus]].''

'''''Annona squamosa''''' ('''Sugar-apple''', '''Sweetsop'''  or '''Custard Apple''') is a species of ''[[Annona]]'' native to the tropical Americas. Its exact native range is unknown due to extensive cultivation, but thought to be in the [[Caribbean]]; the species was described from [[Jamaica]].

It is a [[evergreen|semi-evergreen]] [[shrub]] or small [[tree]] reaching 6-8 m tall. The [[leaf|leaves]] are alternate, simple, oblong-lanceolate, 5-17 cm long and 2-5 cm broad. The [[flower]]s are produced in clusters of 3-4, each flower 1.5-3 cm across, with six petals, yellow-green spotted purple at the base.

The [[fruit]] is usually round or oval, slightly pine cone-like, 6-10 cm diameter and weighing 100-230 g, with a scaly or lumpy skin. The fruit flesh is edible, white to light yellow, and resembles and tastes like [[custard]]. The [[seed]]s are scattered through the fruit flesh; they are blackish-brown, 12-18 mm long, and hard and shiny.

==Nomenclature==

Different cultures have many names for the species. In English it is most widely known as Sugar-apple or Sweetsop, also sometimes [[custard-apple]] (especially in India) though technically incorrectly, as this name usually refers to another closely related species. In [[Latin America]] regional names include ''anón'', ''anón de azucar'', ''anona blanca'', ''fruta do conde'', ''cachiman'', ''saramuyo'', and many others. In [[India]] it is known as ''aarticum'', "shareefa", ''sitaphal'' or ''seethaphal'' (literally meaning "[[sita]] fruit" as it resembles the head of Sita), and in Indonesia, ''srimatikiya'' or mostly people call it as "srikaya". The [[Taiwan]]ese call it ''Sakya'' ({{zh-tp|t=釋迦|p=shìjiā}}; [[Taiwanese language|Taiwanese]]: suck-khia, suck-kia) because one cultivar resembles the top part of [[Sakyamuni]]'s (釋迦牟尼) head; it is also known as [[Buddha Head]] in Taiwan. Its name in [[Burmese language|Burmese]] is ''aajaa thee''. In the [[Philippines]] it is called ''atis''. In [[Thailand]] it is called ''Noi-Na'' (น้อยหน่า) which is also the common name for a hand-grenade because of its appearance. In [[Vietnam]], it is called ''trái mãng cầu ta'' or ''na''.  In [[Brazil]], it is called ''fruta do conde'', ''pinha'' or ''ata''.

==Cultivation and uses==
Sugar-apple fruit is high in [[food energy|calories]] and is a good source of [[iron]]. It is the most widely cultivated of all the species of ''Annona'', being grown widely throughout the tropics and warmer subtropics; it was introduced to southern [[Asia]] before 1590. It is [[naturalisation (biology)|naturalized]] north to southern [[Florida]] in the [[United States]] and south to [[Bahia]] in [[Brazil]], and is an [[invasive species]] in some areas.

Like most species of ''Annona'', it requires a tropical or subtropical climate with summer temperatures from 25 ° to 41 °C, and mean winter temperatures above 15 °C. It is sensitive to cold and frost, being defoliated below 10 °C and killed by temperatures of a few degrees below freezing. It is only moderately drought-tolerant, requiring rainfall above 700 mm, and not producing fruit well during droughts.

It is quite a prolific bearer and will produce fruit in as little as two to three years. A tree five years old may produce as many as 50 sugar-apples. Poor fruit production has been reported in Florida because there are few natural pollinators (honeybees have a difficult time penetrating the tightly closed female flowers); however hand pollination with a natural fiber brush is effective in increasing yield.

In the Philippines, the fruit is commonly eaten by the Philippine [[Fruit Bat]] (Kabag or Kabog) which then spreads the seeds from island to island.

In the Philippines there is a company that produces Sugar apple wine.

It is a host plant for larvae of the butterfly ''[[Graphium agamemnon]]'' (Tailed Jay).

It is used by some societies in India to prepare a hair tonic. The seeds are also ground and applied to rid the hair of lice.

==See also==
* [[Annonin]]
* [[Atemoya]]
* [[Cherimoya]]
* [[Custard-apple]]
* [[Soursop]]

==References==
*[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=200008509 Flora of North America: ''Annona squamosa'']
*[http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?3503 Germplasm Resources Information Network: ''Annona squamosa'']
*[http://www.worldagroforestrycentre.org/SEA/Products/AFDbases/AF/asp/SpeciesInfo.asp?SpID=214 AgroForestryTree Database: ''Annona squamosa'']
*[http://www.ciat.cgiar.org/ipgri/fruits_from_americas/frutales/Ficha%20Annona%20squamosa.htm Fruits from Americas: ''Annona squamosa'']
*[http://www.hear.org/pier/species/annona_squamosa.htm Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk: ''Annona squamosa'']
*[http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/sugar_apple.html Fruits of warm climates: ''Annona squamosa'']
*[http://herbal-medicine.philsite.net/atis.htm Nutritional values]
*[http://www.viveroanones.com/vawebsite/Photo%20Gallery%20TROPIC%20FRUITS.htm Gallery of Tropical Fruit]
*Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. Macmillan.
*[http://www.flickr.com/photos/shrikrish/348679407/in/photostream/ Tropical Fruits from India]

<gallery>
Image:sugar_apple.jpg|Taiwanese "pineapple ''shijia''" ([[Atemoya]]).
Image:Sugar_apple_flesh.JPG|Flesh of sugar apple.
Image:Sugar-apples 5, Taitung County, Dec 06.JPG|Sugar-apples in [[Taitung]], [[Taiwan]].
Image:Ata Sugar-apple Pinha Fruta do conde.JPG|A Sugar-apple in [[Goiânia]], [[Brazil]].
</gallery>

[[Category:Magnoliales]]
[[Category:Fruit]]
[[Category:Trees of the Caribbean]]
[[Category:Trees of Jamaica]]
[[Category:Trees of Florida]]
[[Category:Trees of Brazil]]
[[Category:Trees of South America]]
[[Category:Medicinal plants]]
[[Category:Vietnamese cuisine]]